Institute Library, The, is an independent lending library in New Haven, Connecticut. Formerly called the New Haven Young Men’s Institute, The Institute Library is the only such library in the city. It is also one of the last remaining membership libraries in the United States.
The Institute Library was established in 1826 as the Young Apprentices’ Literary Association. It was founded as an educational society by eight young working men for “mutual assistance in the attainment of useful knowledge” through a shared book collection and weekly meetings. The association opened its doors to women in 1835.
From the 1830’s through the mid–1880’s, The Institute Library was a center of literary culture, adult education, and community discussions. The Library served as a rare refuge for advocates of woman suffrage (the right of women to vote) and the abolition of slavery in the culturally conservative New Haven of the time. It offered classes and debates. It also presented a popular lecture series that attracted such leading American social thinkers as Henry Ward Beecher, Anna E. Dickinson, Frederick Douglass, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
The Institute Library employed its first professionally trained librarian, William A. Borden, almost continuously from 1887 to 1910. During his tenure at the library, Borden experimented with new library technologies and practices. He patented new library tools, such as a removable card catalog drawer, and created a unique classification system for the library’s collection. Both the classification system and Borden’s original card catalog remain in use at The Institute Library today.
The Institute Library has occupied its present location in New Haven since 1878. Today, the library hosts and sponsors various community programs and events, including live conversation series and rotating art exhibitions.
